Fmr LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

FMR LLC reduced its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 37.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,840,953 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,108,594 shares during the quarter. FMR LLC owned about 1.21% of Steel Dynamics worth $209,997,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Institutional investors own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Steel Dynamics from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wolfe Research upgraded Steel Dynamics from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Steel Dynamics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $149.11.

Steel Dynamics Trading Up 0.9 %

Steel Dynamics stock traded up $1.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $118.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,049,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,504,314. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a one year low of $103.17 and a one year high of $155.56. The stock has a market cap of $17.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $125.69 and a 200-day moving average of $128.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 2.53.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.61 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. Steel Dynamics's payout ratio is 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to purchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value of $3,184,810.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Steel Dynamics Company Profile

Steel Dynamics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a steel producer and metal recycler in the United States. The Steel Operations segment offers hot rolled, cold rolled, and coated steel products; parallel flange beams and channel sections, flat bars, large unequal leg angles, and reinforcing steel bars, as well as standard strength carbon, intermediate alloy hardness, and premium grade rail products; engineered special-bar-quality products, merchant-bar-quality products, and other engineered round steel bars; channels, angles, flats, merchant rounds, and reinforcing steel bars; and specialty shapes and light structural steel products.